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Kyle Larson Opens Ohio Speedweek with Attica Win

NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kyle Larson doesn’t get many opportunities to wheel a sprint car, but when he does he is usually very successful. That was the case Friday as Larson drovethe Paul Silva machine in his first ever appearance at Attica Raceway Park to a victory on Kistler Engines/Ohio CAT Night. Larson, from Elk Grove, California, took the $5,000 payday to open the 34th Annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions.

In a field that included NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kasey Kahne with fellow NASCAR competitor Tony Stewart in attendance overseeing his All Star organization, Larson would take the lead on a lap five restart and had a few close calls in lapped traffic before earning his third career All Star win.

“That was a fun race. This is a great race track…really racey. I know the racing was good throughout the pack because the lappers were racing hard in front of me. It was just fun. I’ve always wanted to race here and haven’t had the chance to,” said Larson beside his Finley Farms, XYZ Machining, Probuilt Construction, Lucas Oil backed #57.

“Paul Silva did a really good job. I’ve never been here before and he’s only been here a couple of times and for us to put it in victory lane is pretty special,” Larson added to the approval of the standing-room-only crowd.

Reed, who won at Attica the previous week, drove his Crown Battery, Ken Gill Construction backed machine to a second place finish.

“I didn’t get a really good restart…spun my tires bad coming off of two and that was it. I told Kyle we were really rooting for him down in NASCAR land but I don’t know why we had to root for him tonight,” joked Reed.

Chad Kemenah closed on Reed several times but settled for third.

“If we stay up here long enough the wins will start coming. Me and my brother always took pride with the UUI #15 car that we consistently stayed up front to start consistently winning,” said Kemenah beside his Hunter Racing, Seneca Energy, Knight Hawk Holdings, Brilex LLC, JRC Transport, Bonnell’s Rod Shop backed #10H

The Summit Racing Equipment UMP Late Models ran two features – the regular show on the make-up feature from a May 20 rain out. The results were the same – Wooster’s Doug Drown in victory lane. Drown has five wins at Attica in 2016 and his career total is now at 18 as he sits second on the all-time win list.

In both features Drown would lead all 25 laps and in both Chub Frank would apply pressure but would finish second.

“When I saw Chub I knew he was better than me on the bottom. I just can’t slow down enough to run the bottom. It just isn’t me. Chub is one of the first guys to help me get started so it’s kind of fun to be able to race with him. I knew I had to search around on the track if I was going to stay in front of him. This whole family, Leroy, Tim, my family, my wife….it’s just a great thing,” said Drown beside his Halls Auto Sales, Malcuit Racing Engines, Wooster Glass, Kar Konnections, Hoosier Tire, Swartz Race cars backed #240.

Drown also dedicated the wins to sprint car driver Brad Haudenschild who is fighting health issues.

“I hope people keep Brad in their prayers and help his family out financially. They aren’t rich but the family is diehard racers and hopefully we can come together as a racing family and help them get through this,” Drown said.

In the 40-lap All Star feature Caleb Helms and Reed brought the field to green with Helms gaining the advantage. Reed would still the lead on lap two with Larson driving around Helms a lap later. The caution flew on lap four for a TJ Michael spin. On the ensuing restart Larson would execute a classic slider in turns three and four to take the lead.

Larson pulled away slightly from Reed with Kemenah staying close. Helms, Cale Thomas, Lee Jacobs and Dean Jacobs waged a terrific battle for fourth. Michael would spin again on lap eight, keeping Larson out of heavy lapped traffic.

By lap 10 Larson had pulled away as Reed and Kemenah gave chase and the battle continued for fourth with Lee Jacobs, Thomas and Dean Jacobs. The leaders would encounter very heavy lapped traffic by lap 16 but a caution for a Danny Holtgraver spin would give them a clear track on lap 17.

When the green flew so did Larson, building his lead to 1.17 second by lap 22. Meanwhile Reed and Kemenah began battling for second with Thomas, Lee Jacobs, and now Stuart Brubaker in pursuit. Larson would again hit heavy lapped traffic with 15 laps to go but Reed and Kemenah couldn’t close.

Larson got a scare on lap 28 when he made contact with a lapped machine, which allowed Reed to close to within .5 seconds. Larson then got more aggressive in traffic and pulled away for the win over Reed and Kemenah.

“I knew with 40 laps it would clean off and we would get some grip. I got a better start than I thought I would and we had that restart and Byron (Reed) slipped up off the bottom just a little bit and spun his tires and I was able to get a big run down the back stretch and slide him. From there I just had to hit my marks every time. The bottom was getting narrower and narrower. Especially on exit there in turn two. The last seven laps or so I thought I could see him once or twice running lower than me in three and four. I wasn’t closing on lappers out of turn two any more. It was tough running in their dirty air and the dirty track and I started to lose grip. I stayed cautious and we were able to get the lead early enough and I was able to run my own pace,” Larson said.

In the first 25 lap late model feature pole-sitter Drown would grab the lead at the drop of the green and only a couple of cautions would keep him from a huge win. Drown was never seriously challenged as he took the win over Frank, Ryan Markham, Doug Eck and Rick Bond.

In the night’s regular feature, Drown again drew the pole starting spot and battled Matt Irey at the drop of the green. Frank would take second on lap four and closed on Drown. Drown would then make the move of the race, going from the middle lane to the cushion and he began to pull away from Frank.

Lapped traffic at the half-way mark would cause Drown to move to the bottom groove and that allowed Frank to close. Meanwhile a tremendous battle ensued for third involving Irey, Cody Scott, Larry Kingseed, JR Gentry, Bond and Ryan Markham. Scott took third on lap 15 and began to close on Drown and Frank.

Once clear of the traffic Drown would move back to the cushion and drove to the win over Frank, Kingseed who got around Scott at the checkers and Irey.

Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, July 1 on Baumann Auto Group Night. General admission is just $10. There will be a complete program of 410 and 305 sprints, late models and dirt trucks. The 410 sprints will also run their make-up feature from the May 20th rained out affair.

For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com

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